


How is it that the clouds still hang on you?

by hogwartsjaguar



Series: Perfect Percy [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Percy, Hurt/Comfort, Male Friendship, References to Hamlet, Weasley Family, mentioned weasley family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 12:26:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hogwartsjaguar/pseuds/hogwartsjaguar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been several weeks since Percy had left his family and settled into life at the ministry. Percy had been 'not bothered,' about the fight with his family and he wouldn't say that he misses his family but he does and he finds himself in the comfort of Oliver Wood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How is it that the clouds still hang on you?

Percy stepped out of the fireplace and into this living room with a sigh as his brand new suit and his carpets had been covered in a brand new covering of soot after not cleaning his own chimney which was just him blatantly forgetting to clean it in the time since he had moved into his flat in London. His flat wasn’t the most glamorous place due to the fact that it was rather small and it was a bit cramped, and it was in the muggle part of London due to the fact that Percy had hoped that if he had stayed out the magical quarters of London, there would be greater chance that he wouldn’t see any of his family in the streets or in Flourish and Blotts or even in one of the many shops in Diagon Alley. It had been one week since he had moved into the flat and one week since the fight with his parents.

Percy knew that it was probably rather immature of him for having to go to such great lengths to avoid speaking to his family and he had even closed the door in his mother’s face when she had found out where he had lived and tried to speak to him, but despite his regrets at his immaturity at things, Percy was certainly not going to back down on the matters of his pride. He had worked long hours and spent countless hours writing parchments about cauldron bottoms and acting like someone’s’ puppet and running about on their commands of cups of tea or trying to conquer the filing system singlehandedly in the ministry-which was one of the horrendous sights that Percy had ever seen. The thing that had made the task even more horrible was the fact that he wasn’t allowed to sort it out by magic as the magic would not do the job good enough as human hands-well that was according to Kathleen Clifton who was the archivist for the ministry, who had made Crouch ask Percy to do it while she went on a meal out with her new boyfriend, who she kept talking about every time Percy had to go into the archives. But despite all the menial tasks that had kept Percy in a state of almost constant boredom, (as there is only so many meetings that one can write about safety regulations of cauldron bottoms before the subject gets a bit tedious,) Percy had been proud of himself when he had been promoted, and his promotion was rightly deserved if he had to say so himself. Hours upon hours of menial work had finally paid off and Percy even had his own office now and his own assistant called Audrey. However when he told his parents about the good news about the job, his parents were less than happy with the good fortune that only hard work could bring.

Percy preferred not to really think about his family now, but he did feel sorry for Ron and Ginny. He had always had a soft spot for his two youngest siblings and it did break his heart when they would have to second hand items or hand me down items of clothing-which was mostly in Ron’s case due to the fact that Ginny had the perk of new items of clothing as she was the only girl. Percy had been somewhat fortunate that he didn’t get hand-me-down items of clothing when he was younger due to the fact that his parents were considerably wealthier when they had three children compared to the seven they have and the two additional children they had somewhat adopted who Harry and Hermione. Even when he had started to get Bill’s old robes and books, Percy had never really cared about receiving them, but for some reason Ron getting his brother’s old robes that were about twice the age of Ron himself and had gone through several owners and even when he was just starting school and he had received his brother’s old wand, something about that had really annoyed Percy and it wasn’t just the fact that it was against the safety regulations on wands booklet that was in. But any child who was just starting to go to Hogwarts should have their own wand, and not one that was from their older brother. Even though Percy wasn’t sure about his relationship with his younger siblings, he had been considering sending an owl with some money in for Ron and Ginny-mostly so they could get something nice for themselves down in Hogsmeade and to show that he wasn’t angry with them. Percy would have done it already but he decided against it due to the knowledge that the twins would probably send him dragon dung in the letter back and Ginny would be sending him a howler among the ones that his parents had been sending him every day since he had left. Percy removed his outer cloak and he tried his best to get the soot stains out of his red tie that he was wearing before he had just used magic which got the stain out and made the tie look brand new again and he let out a sigh of relief as cleaning spells were not his strongest area and the last time he had tried to remove a stain from his cloak he had managed to burn a hole in the cloak where the stain was-regardless of having to get a new cloak, Percy did consider it to be a small victory as technically the stain was now gone. Cleaning spells were something that Percy was going to have to do himself and learn how to do as most ministry officials didn’t go to their mum if they needed their trousers washed, dried and pressed before their morning meeting. Percy did consider about giving his washing list to Audrey to do since he had his own assistant but he decided not to let her do it, mostly due to his perfectionist tendencies and the fact that he wasn’t wanting his assistant to see his underpants. Percy did consider getting one of those washing machines and driers that he had seen in his father’s shed on occasion but he wasn’t sure about them due to the fact that he didn’t know how they worked and the fear that some of his clothes would get eaten in the machine known as the tumble drier and Percy was short on socks already.

Percy quickly got himself dressed out of his work clothes, and made sure that his suit was hung up correctly before he had left his tiny London apartment. Normally Percy wouldn’t bother going out especially on a weekday evening or even a weakened but he had thought that tonight was an exception as Oliver Wood had asked him if he had wanted to go and grab a drink and they could watch the rugby game-the new sport that Oliver had taken a liking too, however he was just as mad on Quidditch as he was at school and the passion he had for it hadn’t faded as he was playing for Puddlemere United now. He had been meeting up with Oliver just about every Thursday after work for a while now, as it was rather nice to be able to talk with one of his old friends every now and then and Oliver’s company and letters had been somewhat pleasant to have especially since moving away to London as Percy had begun to learn what it was like to be on his own and experience silence.

When you are in a house with six other siblings and a mother and a father, it always so loud as it is perfectly natural when you have so many people in a small house and all of them are so loud –especially the twins. Percy would hide in the attic with the ghoul if he wanted to read in somewhat quiet but only if the ghoul in the attic didn’t decide to bang on the pipes. The moment that Percy had turned seventeen, the first bit of magic that he had done outside school was to place a silencing charm on his bedroom and it was a rather smart choice as Fred and George had started up on their experimental fireworks that summer. On the first day of being in the flat, Percy had soon discovered that he wasn’t so fond of being in a silent home. It always felt too lonely, especially when you knew that your family probably hated you. Percy was sure that his mother still loved or even liked him a small fraction, but he was sure that she probably at least disliked him now especially after the door being closed in her face after she started to go on about his job and why he should go back home and say that he was sorry to his father. Percy who was still rather angry about the situation that had taken place the previous night ended up closing the door in her face after he had told her that he wasn’t moving back home and he was certainly not apologising for being promoted, he had also made it very clear that if anyone was going to be apologising it would be his father. Percy did feel rather guilty once he had closed the door as he could hear his mother begin to cry before she had apparated. Percy thought that maybe that she was expecting him to come home right away and the whole moving out situation was just the same as running away from home like what he had threatened to do a few times when he was younger especially after the twins had been tormenting him once again and had tried to kill Scabbers or make him wear a dress. Percy wouldn’t say that he regretted leaving home, but he would reluctantly say that he missed being in his old bed that was covered in the old patchwork quilt that his mother had made for his birthday years ago. But he had to go, it was clear that he had changed and his family hadn’t and it was just time to leave the nest. The junior assistant to the minister couldn’t be living at home with his mum as it would be rather embarrassing.

Percy had arranged to meet up with Oliver Wood a few days ago. Every Thursday evening from around six o’clock to quarter to ten and they would go to the same pub in muggle London that always smelt of fried onions for some reason and had loud and bright yellow neon signs in the windows that was advertising the pub’s name and the offer of a bargain offer of a steak pie and a pint for five pounds that Percy had yet to try but Oliver had sworn by it and almost said that it was almost as good as the one his grandmother would make. Percy had been going to the same pub with Oliver once a week for a while and he hadn’t had the steak pie. For some reason his desire to potentially get food poisoning from a steak pie didn’t sound like a compelling experience for him to try, plus Percy had been a little bit cautious around steak pies since Fred had managed to hide a nosebleed nougat as a piece of steak and the result was less than pleasant for Percy and it had put him off having steak pie ever since.

Percy was dressed in his best casual clothes that was a blue shirt that had been neatly pressed during the morning before he had apparated for work and his brown trousers that he only wore on special occasions due to the fact that he had paid for them himself with his first wage packet at the ministry and he had worn them with pride as it was the first in a very long time that he had gotten a new piece of clothing that hadn’t had any previous owners. He apparted from his apartment and into a poorly lit alley that was a few streets away from the pub where he had arranged to meet Oliver at. He briskly walked over to the pub, keeping his head down just in case he had bumped into a member of his family into the streets even though there was a little chance of him doing that as his family rarely went into the muggle side of London and the only time that they had ever went there was during the summer holidays and they were going to see the muggle museums and the large department stores and electronic stores due to the fact that their father had been wanting to see the latest muggle gadgets and to add another rubber duck to his collection.

“About time you were turning up.” Oliver Wood said with a large smile on his face as he saw Percy approach the pub where they had arranged to meet up. “Running late Perce? I thought that I would be spending the evening on my own tonight with the amount of time that it took for you to get your arse over here. “

“There was a hold up at work and I needed to deal with a meeting about ministry business and a dragon dung sample at work that had somehow exploded on me.” Percy said with a look of disgust on his face with his wrinkled up nose and he thought about how long it took to remove the stench of the dung off his robes before his big meeting with the minister of magic. Percy hadn’t been expecting a dragon dung sample, and he certainly wasn’t expecting an sample of dragon dung that had exploded when he took the liberty of exploding on him when he had tried to throw it into the waste bin.

“Fred and George?” Oliver had asked with a loud snort as he held the door open for Percy as he had walked into the pub.

“You already know that it is them.” Percy said with a sigh as he walked into the pub and he was greeted with the smell of fried unions and the sights of the local patrons of the bar who were watching the rugby game on the TV. Percy had never watched a television before he had moved over to London but he had been enjoying watching pointless TV shows in the last few days when he had come home from work as it helped him switch off from work for a little bit even though it was near impossible, the TV had mostly had become electronic wallpaper to him but the background noise from it had been something that had helped his flat seem less empty. Percy moved over to their regular table that was near the one window that wasn’t covered in a neon sign. “I reckon that Ginny also had a part of it as well, you know what she is like.”

“Rough day then?” Oliver had asked as he sat on the seat across from Percy and he started to read the menu, even though Oliver had ordered the same thing every time that he was at the pub. “You look as if you can do with a drink or two.”

“Rough week really.” Percy said with a sigh, placing his elbows on the table and taking off his round glasses and placing them on the placemat. “You already know what happened with the family.”

Oliver made a noise of agreement and he stood up to go and grab some drinks from the bar. Oliver never really asked questions, this is why Percy had liked the company of Oliver Wood despite the fact that the two of them had little in common and they had drove each other crazy in their years in school when they had shared a dorm together. Oliver would get annoyed with him singing in the shower and his perfectionist tendencies with everything and Percy would get annoyed with Oliver leaving his quidditch socks on the floor and staying up all night before a quidditch game working on all the potential moves of the players on both teams and waking him up in the early hours in the morning about tactics that would help the team win the game. Oliver had come back to the table with two glasses of beer in his hands and he placed one on Percy’s side of the table. Percy had never been much of a fan of beer but he drank it regardless of his taste due to the fact that it would be rude for him to reject a drink that was bought for him. “What about your week Oliver?” Percy had asked as he took a sip of his drink and he pulled a face. “It must have been better than mine.”

“It was fine, the practises have been murder though.” Oliver grumbled as he lent back on his chair and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt revealing a large bruise on his arm that looked as if he had been attacked by a quaffle. “I got pushed off my broom by one of the new reserves. I don’t know how Waters had gotten into the team he can barely control a broom and somehow he was got into reserves. I reckon that he had been on the Felix Felicis or he had been casting an charm on the manager during his try out.”

“How high were you when you fell?” Percy asked.

“Only twenty feet,” Oliver shrugged. “I wasn’t even knocked out, so it wasn’t that bad.”

Percy snorted into his beer loudly, losing all dignity that he had tried so hard to retain in all his life even though it had been difficult especially when covered in dragon dung. “Did it knock any sense into that thick skull of yours?”

“I doubt that it did,” Oliver chuckled. “You had always said that nothing could help me get any common sense when we were sharing a room together.”

“I still can’t believe that it has been almost two years since we have left school.” Percy said with a sigh as he looked out of the window and at the few fat pigeons that were fighting over the crumbs on the ground. “Time has certainly flown past hasn’t it? Ron is a prefect now.” Percy said with a tone of pride filling his voice despite the fact that he felt miserable about his little brother not wanting anything to do with him anymore.

“Is he really?” Oliver asked. “That it really great, another Weasley patrolling the school hallways and bringing justice to many badly behaved students.” “I don’t think that Ron will be much of a force of intimidation or an enforcer of good behaviour.” Percy snorted. “Hermione will be much better at doing that.”

“Is Ron speaking to you?” Oliver asked. “Bill sent an owl over to me last night, he’s over in England for a while , working in the bank at the moment. He’s got a place just outside of London. He’s still speaking to me, and Charlie doesn’t know what has happened, and he’s not written a letter in a while.” Percy said quietly as he placed his glasses back on his face with a sigh.

“I think that it is impossible to get Charlie away from his dragons.” Oliver chuckled, Percy was sure that he was attempting to get him to cheer up. “I still can’t believe that he didn’t decide to go professional with his quidditch. He was brilliant both as a player and a captain, he never used to get angry if you dropped the quaffle or you missed a snitch, and you remember the parties that he used to throw even though we had lost the game. He used to celebrate if we didn’t fall off our brooms during the game, you must remember some of those parties.”

“The ones that you dragged me to when I was trying to study.” Percy snorted. “Yeah they were fun, I was trying to get my homework done but you decided that I was being ‘too boring.’” “You were wasting your life away in the library, but it has paid off clearly. Look at you with your big ministry job, it won’t be long until you are minister of magic.” Oliver said. “I’m getting the steak pie are you bothering getting anything?” Oliver had added in as an afterthought.

“I don’t think I fancy a steak pie or anything from the menu. I’m going to make dinner when I get home.” Percy commented as he inspected the menu. “You can order something if you want though.” “I might leave the steak pie tonight. I kind of want to see your flat, you’ve been going on about it in your letters and you have made it sound like it should be on the chocolate frog cards.” Oliver drowned off the rest of his pint. “We can order food in at your place to save you cooking, plus I want to be somewhere that doesn’t smell of onions.”

“That will be fine, it means that I can get some work done tonight before either of us move onto the firewhisky.” Percy said as he put on his coat and started to tidy up the table for the waitress to clean up.

“You need to have the night off Percy.” Oliver stood up and put his own coat. “You work too hard.”

“Hard work didn’t do any harm to anyone.” Percy decided not to think about his experience of the his intensive work ethic as it made him loose his family, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that fact any more than he needed to. If his father was wanting to apologise to him, he could make an appointment with Audrey and Percy might schedule him in at some point. The two of them made their way out of the pub and walked over to the alleyway that Percy had apparated to when he left his apartment. Percy walked over to the entrance of the alley and he made sure that no one was walking past it while Oliver walked further into the alley and stood next to some rubbish bags and that his feet were only visible while the rest of him was covered by a shadow. Percy walked over to Oliver and when the coast was clear, Oliver placed his hand on Percy’s arm before Percy had apparated into his flat.

Oliver had fallen onto the armchair when Percy had taken them into the flat, Percy had managed to get into his flat smoothly and he had managed to stay on his feet perfectly without even a wobble. Oliver looked slightly green and he managed to look completely intact and splinch free.

“Are you feeling okay?” Percy asked with a look of concern as he put his wand on top of the fireplace and removed his coat. “Yeah, there is a reason why I don’t apparate too much.” Oliver said as he sat up on the chair and the green colour on his face had started to fade. “I get horribly travel sick and appartation doesn’t help things that much.”

“But you are fine going on a broomstick at dangerously fast speeds.” Percy commented as he walked over to his kitchen and took out the bottle of fire-whisky from his cupboard along with two glasses. He poured out the fire-whisky into the glasses and walked back into the living room humming quietly under his breath.

“There is lots of things that the world can’t explain.” Oliver replied as he took the glass that was handed into him. “Nice place you’ve got here, it’s a bit small though. You could put a few charms on the place to make it bigger.”

“It’s London, I know that my pay from work is good, but it isn’t that good. Plus this Is London that I’m living in, I doubt that I could get a mansion even if I wanted to.” Percy remarked taking a sip of his own drink and immediately feeling the warm spread to his chest as the drink burned his throat at the same time. “It’s my own place though and its home.”

Oliver was already inspecting the small living room and he seemed to be taking great focus in the bookshelf that had a few quidditch books in it before he made moved around to inspected all the other rooms in his flat. He kept snorting in amusement in most of the rooms of the flat for some reason. “This is a nice place that you have got, and I was right with my thinking about how tidy your place was going to be. I don’t know how you can keep a place so tidy without having a house elf to clean it for you.”

“You used to complain that I was a clean freak when we lived together, plus it is a lot easier to keep a room clean when you don’t have siblings placing explosives or slugs into your room for fun.” Percy moved over to the window and he paid the owl that was waiting for him with a letter attached to its leg. Percy never got letters at this time of night and the letter didn’t look like one from work. He took the letter from the owl and the owl hooted loudly in Percy’s direction before taking off. Percy looked at the envelope and he saw that the return address was from Romania and he recognised that the letter was from Charlie judging by the wax stamp that had a dragon imprinted on it. Percy let out a sigh as he wondered if Charlie had found out about the fight. “Who’s that from?” Oliver asked as he had removed his shoes and was flicking through the tv channels.

“Charlie, “ Percy sighed. “He rarely writes, he must have found out about the fight from Bill.” He opened up the envelope and begun to read out loud;

_‘Dear Percy, I was wondering how you were settling into the new flat, it’s about time that you moved out from mum and dad’s place and you won’t get the twins annoying you at every moment now and you can get some peace and quiet now. I hope that you are doing okay, I have tried to write to mum and dad and the younger ones when I found out about the fight that happened from Bill, but they are saying nothing or they are being their usual selves and just calling you a pompous twit. I’m not going to lecture you about the fight as it’s none of my business anyway, and I’m not taking sides about it. But just be careful at work, that’s all I am asking you. I don’t really know what is going on with you-know-who, but you need to be careful. I know that you are not one to get lectured by your older brothers as normally you are the one who lectures me and Bill, but just try and be careful. I trust that you will make the right choice with what it is going on. If you are needing help or you need someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to send an owl over or I can sent a portkey over to Romania to you if I need to, Hope you are doing well,_

_Your Charlie.’_

Once he had finished reading the letter Percy folded it up and he placed it behind the muggle clock that was on the fire place, feeling slightly relieved that it wasn’t a lecture within the letter or it was a prank sent over from the twins. Charlie had never been one to lecture and thankfully he had stayed to his easy going nature despite all what had happened. Oliver had finished off his glass of fire-whiskey and he poured himself another glass. “That was a nice letter from your brother.” Oliver plainly said as he switched off the TV. Percy sat down on the couch with a sigh as he sank down onto the cushions. “I was half expecting a lecture to be honest. Charlie never gives anyone a row but when he goes off, it can be scary. He’s not as bad as my father though. I’ve only been on the receiving end of one of his rows the once and it was more than enough.”

“And you did leave after it.” Oliver pointed out as he topped up Percy’s glass.

“Is that you trying to make me feel better, as it isn’t making me feel good about myself right now.” Percy grumbled as he shot his best intimidating glare towards Oliver who only held up his hands up in surrender.

“I was just pointing something out.” Oliver replied as he lowered out his hands. “I am assuming that the fight that you had was pretty bad though. Is anyone other than your older brothers speaking to you?”

“My mother tried to speak to me the once, she came to the flat sometime last week. I closed the door on her as I didn’t want to speak to her. I don’t know how she managed to find the flat, Bill probably told her as he was helping me getting the papers signed for it.” Percy said in a low voice as he took off his glasses and rubbed his face with a tired hand. “I was still angry about the fight, and she kept going on about how I should be apologising to my father even though he was the one who said that I was being used as a ministry puppet.”

Oliver didn’t say anything else and the only action that he did was a gesture for to keep Percy talking. “I have worked hard for that position and I have dedicated my life to the ministry and the moment that I help to build up our families name in the ministry, my father decides that my work isn’t good enough and all my achievements at work and my promotions are a sham.” Percy’s voice had begun to become louder than it was before and he the books on the shelf had begun to vibrate. It was the first time that Percy had really acknowledged what had happened and all the anger that he had been feeling towards the matter was coming out and the fire-whisky that he was drinking only seemed to fuel the anger and this thoughts about what happened to an Oliver who looked bewildered.

“Charlie and Bill are allowed to do what jobs they want to do and the twins get to do what they want. Ron gets into trouble with Harry Potter and Ginny gets away with anything as she is the only girl, and when something good happens to me, everyone seems to take it away from me!”

“Percy, I know that you are angry right now but you need to be quiet or let me put a silencing charm up or something before your neighbours complain.” Oliver barked out in a low voice, before he took out his wand and put a silencing charm on the flat and a sticking charm onto the books on the shelf to stop them flying off the shelves.

“I don’t care what the neighbours think, I don’t care what anyone thinks.” Percy said in a low voice as he finished the rest of his glass. “I’m just fed up of everyone not giving me the respect that I need, I have worked hard at everything that I do and I’m fed up of everyone wanting to put me down. Everyone seems to find a reason to annoy me or make a snide comment about me or they just ignore me. You don’t know what it is like to have your whole family laughing at you all the time apart from your mother.”

“No I don’t know.” Oliver shook his head, as he tried to remove the glass from Percy’s hand and spelled away the bottle of fire-whisky, sensing that Percy had had enough to drink. “I can see why you are angry, but your family are doing what it best for you. Things aren’t what they used to be and it’s not really safe.”

“Oliver if you are going to be on my parents side you can leave right now.” Percy hissed out. “I am not having you betray me.”

“I’m not taking sides, but I am worried.” Oliver stood up and he perched on the coffee table that was in front of Percy with a look of concern on his face. “I’ve never seen you this angry before.”

“I’m just accepting that I am never going to be good enough for my parents standards. I’ve tried so hard to be the perfect son and all my efforts have blown up in my face.” Percy sighed as he placed his head in his hands, feeling exhausted after his outburst. His voice was low and hoarse as he spoke. “I’m not regretting my choices of moving out or taking that position in the ministry as I have worked for it, but I’ve wondered if I’ve burnt the bridge too far. I don’t want to have my siblings hating me, I want to help them and help buy Ron new robes and Ginny new books, but I’m afraid I can’t do that for them as they don’t see me as their brother.”

“You could always go back if you wanted.” Oliver suggested as he reached over to give Percy’s shoulder a squeeze in the attempt to comfort him. “Hamlet left when things became too much for him, and he came back.”

“Hamlet went to England because he was getting banished by the king. He was driven out.” Percy replied with a scowl, being somewhat surprised that Oliver Wood, the boy who never really paid much attention in classes due to thinking about quidditch but could remember Hamlet from the one class they did on Shakespeare in muggle studies.

“I reckon that Hamlet could have stayed if he was wanted to, but even when he did leave as he didn’t want to stay in Denmark and he left for England, he came back eventually. What I’m saying Percy is that you don’t need to speak your parents right now and I think that you do need some time to let things settle down and for you too cool off, but like Hamlet, you can always go back to your family. You don’t want to stay with them and I’m not saying that you have to, but Hamlet left as he didn’t want to stay and that is what you are doing right now, and maybe one day you will return like what Hamlet did.” Oliver said in a quiet voice. “They will forgive you for leaving eventually and maybe things will get better, but it is a matter of time.” Oliver said as he gave Percy’s shoulder a squeeze. “Right now I think what it needed is for you to go to bed as you are needing to be writing your reports and attending your boring meetings tomorrow morning.”

Percy opened up his mouth to protest, but Oliver had pointed into the direction of the bedroom and gave him a look. Percy stood up and started to make his way to the bedroom. “Thank you Oliver.” Percy nodded as he did his best to restore all decorum that he had lost in his outburst. “I do apologise-“

“Percy it is okay for you to be angry,” Oliver said cutting Percy off mid-sentence. “I rather that you took it out on me instead of some poor sod at your work when they ask you about the quidditch scores during your lunch break.” Oliver stood up and he fetched his coat. “I’ll go and see myself out and I will see you next Thursday and I’m always an owl away if you need me.”

Percy gave Oliver a final nod before he strode over to his bedroom and flopped onto the bed without even bothering to get himself dressed in his nightclothes. He could hear Oliver walking around in his flat and putting the glasses into the kitchen before he heard Oliver step into the fireplace and quietly say his desired location before the roar of the fire had taken Oliver away from his flat. Percy had managed to fall asleep a few minutes after Oliver had left.

Percy had woken up the next morning with a dry mouth and a pounding in his head, and regretted drinking all that fire-whiskey the night before as it was so unlike him to drink so much and the headache that was having was proof that drinking so much was not his best idea. He got out of bed and frowned when he realised that he had slept in his good clothes and had wrinkled them horribly and that he had over slept by a good half hour and even though he wasn’t going to be late for work, he was still off his timetable that he liked to keep. Percy walked into the living room and he was surprised that the flat had been cleaned up by Oliver and that there was a cup of tea already made up for him that was being kept warm with a heating charm and that the glasses had been washed. Percy made the mental note to send an owl over to Oliver to thank him for the tea as it was a simple pleasure to have a cup of tea in the morning especially when he wasn’t feeling great and tea could solve all the problems in the world especially if all those problems belonged to a British person.

As he was about to step into the fireplace to go to work with his freshly pressed robes and his shoes that he had taken great effort to polish after the night before as having worn them to bed had made havoc with them, Percy could hear an owl tap on his window. Percy let out a sigh as he was already off his morning routine and he wasn’t wanting to waste more time responding to owls or collecting the newspaper from the owl. Percy was about to send the owl over to the ministry so that he could check his letters when he was at his desk when he had noticed that the owl had a parcel tied up in Puddlemere United wrapping paper. Percy took the parcel from the bird and he opened it to discover that it was Oliver’s battered and what appeared to be well-read , copy of Hamlet that he had gotten as a gift from Percy for Christmas in their third year of school (which was the last year that Percy had attempted to give Oliver something that wasn’t related to Quidditch for Christmas due to the confused on Oliver’s face when he had opened up the gift,) there was a piece of parchment on the cover that had a sentence in Oliver’s scrawling handwriting.

_He left, but he also came back._

Percy placed the book back onto the coffee table and went back into the fireplace and headed off to work as those reports on Harry Potter’s trial weren’t going to write themselves. With a flash of green and the roar of the fire, Percy had left for the ministry.


End file.
